Experience
Transport Equipment Leasing Business, Fortune 5 Company
Vice President – Communications, August 2005-June 2008
Led eight-person team for the Company’s $7 billion transport solutions business, with responsibility for all communications and $10 million budget. Created new messaging to complete the repair of a broken business, unify five divisions, drive home the need to transform the business model from simple leasing transactions to complex service relationships, and convert employees from playing defense to playing offense. Improved employee opinion on strategy and direction; won the business its first major media coverage; helped generate revenue growth by launching 60 new products and expanding to six new countries, and contributed to net income growth of 50%. Position was eliminated following the Company’s decision to break up the business.
Executive communications: developed new value proposition and communicated it through the CEO’s internal and external presentations and speeches, emails, Webchats, videos, organization announcements and select media interviews. Reorganized annual leadership meetings and performance award trips to drive culture change through new themes, agendas, speakers and criteria for invitation and award.
Employee communications: created the first annual campaign on strategy, including a “Growth Week” featuring a CEO video and Webchat, business- and function-level meetings, and brainstorming sessions to help employees define their jobs in terms of the new strategy. Created a “Growth Heroes” recognition program to increase awareness and understanding of the Company’s Growth Traits.
Marketing communications: led team in developing new value proposition and business name and in rebranding VeriWise™, our flagship product; produced new value proposition and messaging, simpler naming, new collateral and advertising, to help increase units sold 70% in 2007. Oversaw launches of 12 new products, helping to generate $100MM of 2007 new services revenues, and management of 40+ trade shows and association meetings and125+ customer visits and trade show appearances by the Mobile Solutions Center, a VeriWise demonstration trailer. Conceived and organized Transport 2016, a “dreaming session” on future supply chains led by the Company CEO with 35 leaders from major transport firms, shippers, security and infrastructure experts, and senior U.S. Government officials. The event strengthened relationships with customers and government and identified new multi-billion business opportunities for the Company.
Public relations: selectively placed highly favorable articles in the Financial Times and Forbes on the potential of the Company's technology to transform transport and address security and productivity issues; launched the business in India with press briefing and favorable nation-wide coverage.
Leadership: centralized the function to ensure consistency across previously unconnected divisions and expand roles of division communicators; attracted top talent from other Company businesses and outside the Company; coached two direct reports into two promotions, one to executive level; established credibility with CEO and senior leadership team and elevated the function; achieved $250K in annual savings.
Fortune 5 Company
Director – Financial Communications, 2001-2005
Spokesperson on Company financial and strategic matters, including earnings, M&A, accounting, business model and governance; editor of award-winning annual report; corporate liaison and advisor for the Company's business communicators. Changed the way the Company did financial media relations and helped shape its new reputation as an open, innovative, global, marketing-driven organic growth company
Growth PR: placed numerous stories on the Company’s strong prospects for turnaround in performance, including articles in Barron’s (Feb. 2003) and the New York Times (Oct. 2003); the new CEO’s culture of imagination and risk in Business Week (March 2005); the Company's “company to country” approach to globalization in the New York Times (July 2005).
M&A: Company spokesperson and communications planner for $80 billion of transactions, including a major media company combination, the acquisitions of healthcare, water, security, and energy businesses, the IPO of a major consumer insurance businss, and the sales of insurance, business process outsourcing and other non-core businesses.
Annual Report: reconceived and redesigned the Company's annual report to reflect new Chairman’s vision of an innovative, technology-based, customer-focused and capital-efficient growth enterprise; won awards for design and content, including Investor Relations magazine’s Best Annual Report; reduced base costs more than 15%.
Disclosure: lead spokesperson on questions about the Company’s transparency and integrity following the Enron scandal. Helped the Company dramatically increase disclosure through its first earnings conference calls and employee Web chats, plainer English and improved reporter relationships. Lead spokesperson on executive compensation changes, including the introduction of innovative Performance Share Units for the Chairman.
Executive Communications: Edited Chairman’s Annual Report letter and annual meeting Report to Shareowners; edited and rehearsed senior executives’ presentations for annual leadership meetings; wrote leaders’ stump speech on the Company.
Senior Vice President – Corporate Communications, Major Media Business, summer 2004
At the company’s request, served in this director-level position as Interim leader of five-person corporate media relations staff following sudden departure of SVP; maintained consistency of message and continuity of operations during Olympics and two national political conventions.
Fortune 10 Telecommunications Company
Executive Director – Financial Media Relations, July 2000-2001
Chief spokesperson on financial and strategic matters, including quarterly earnings and mergers and acquisitions; media counselor to CFO and senior finance executives. Senior media relations team member for the launch of post-merger brand and company, a $70B wireless merger, and a spin-off. Used media relations to help stabilize stock price during the meltdown of the telecom sector.
Director - Media Relations, 1994-2000
Spokesperson on financial, and corporate governance matters. Senior member of media relations teams for two of the largest mergers in business history and the company's entry into long distance. Managed international media relations, including a two-continent, Hong Kong-to-London press briefing for launch of the world’s longest undersea fiber optic cable.
Staff Manager, Communications and Director – Issues Management, 1985-1994
After assignments of increasing responsibility in employee communications, advertising and media relations, promoted to director level in 1988 and developed communications strategy on New York State regulatory matters, including an $860 million rate case, incentive regulation, and crisis communications on affiliate transactions.
Academic Experience
Visiting Professor of Humanities.
Adjunct Professor of Rhetoric.
Education
Ph.D. in English.
Masters in English.
B.A. in English, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Danforth Fellowship.
Training
Business Management Course, GE, John F. Welch Learning Center.
Executive Development Program, Cornell University Johnson School of Management.
Three summer internships as general assignment reporter at Newsday, Long Island, N.Y. |
